Fruits of the Rattan-Vine (Berchemia scandens)

 

Leaves and fruit clusters of the rattan-vine (Berchemia scandens) can be found in the leaf litter this week. The leaves in this photo still have their summer hue. Although several rattan-vines grow wildly in the arboretum, we have a collection of vines that were intentionally planted in 1997, at the base of a flowering magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), located near the Fitness Center. All of the photos on this post are from that collection of vines, already made famous by previous blog posts (here and here).

 

From one cluster, we have 27 fruits. They aren't uniformly colored. The ripe fruits are blue.

Fruits are small. These measure approximately ¼ inch in length.

This pretty yellow leaf was also found in the leaf-litter. In 2017, these vines were showing their best fall coloration at the very beginning of December. You can find that photo here.